“On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life.” Colossians 3:6-7 (NRSV)

Today’s question:

What moral issues that tempted you once has Christ helped you overcome? Have you thanked Him for these victories?

I do believe in a literal hell. Some Christians, and even many Lutherans, do not, but I do. Jesus talked about hell more than anyone else in the Bible, so as far as I’m concerned, there’s your sign– hell is real. The good news is that hell doesn’t have to be the end of the story.

As a child the very real possibility of eternity in hell scared the holy bejeebers out of me. As I was raised by a very staunchly Catholic mother, I knew a lot more about hell than my non-Catholic friends. Catholicism does not teach the assurance of salvation. A Catholic is considered to be presumptious if he or she claims to be saved- so you’re always wondering where you’re going to end up if you drop dead all the sudden. The issue I have with not knowing if I’m saved or not is both Jesus and the apostle Paul teach that salvation is all due to the grace of God- not on what I do or don’t do but on what Jesus has done for me. He took my place- and my punishment. Because of the grace of God I become a part of His Kingdom forever- today as well as for the rest of eternity.

The big problem with overemphasizing the reality of hell is that it minimizes the reality of the grace of God. I learned much about penance and mortal and venial sins as a child, and much about the omnipresence and the wrath of God, but not a whole lot about grace. Fear is a great short-term motivator, but it’s not so hot in the long term. Worse yet, attempting to hold someone’s salvation contingent upon anything other the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross is false. We can’t “earn ourselves saved,” no matter how many good works we do.

“We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth. We all fade like a leaf,and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” Isaiah 64:6 (NRSV)

Nothing we do is ever going to be good enough to earn ourselves saved.

Busy doesn’t earn you brownie points in God’s economy.

Some would argue that, “Well since you’re saved anyway, why don’t you just do what you want?”

The problem with that is, a person who belongs to Christ is going to be transformed by Christ- one way or the other. The easy way or the hard way. Take it from me, cynical, stubborn and obstinate fool that I can be- the hard way is not fun.

The Bible teacher J. Vernon McGee (well known for his Thru the Bible five year verse by verse study that is still available on the radio and online every day) puts it like this: “You can take a trip to the pig pen, but you won’t be comfortable there. A son belongs in the father’s house.”

I understand pig pen sojourns very well.

The good news is that God loves His own too much to let them stay in the pig pen.

I picked up some not-so-nice habits during my sojourns. I’m not going to come out and say anything ridiculous such as, “a Christian can’t smoke,” because what a person does is between his/her conscience and God. There is no “Thou Shalt Not Smoke” among the Ten Commandments, but I was a hard core chain smoker for many years- two packs a day of 120 menthols, down to the filters. Smoking was something that I put above just about everything. I planned my day and activities around when I could have a smoke. Smoking was also contributing to some of my preexisting health conditions as well as costing me money, turning my teeth yellow and stinking up my car and my clothes. By the grace of God He set me free of smoking over 10 years ago. I am so very thankful for that freedom, because cigarettes were a huge bondage and source of frustration for me. When I think about it now it’s hard to imagine that at one time I couldn’t even go to bed without having a pack and a lighter within reach if I would wake up in the night.

I have to rely on the Lord to keep me from the temptation of lust and to keep me living in chastity. That’s been a very difficult road, because I have had deep issues with lust and the trouble it can get one into in the past. It’s not that there is anything inherently wrong with sex. It is a sacred and beautiful thing between husband and wife, and it is a gift God meant for us to enjoy, in the proper context. Unfortunately, my husband has ED, and no interest in doing anything to correct it, so relations are not possible for him. So whether I like it or not, I have to live a celibate life. The only way I have any chance of staying free of temptation is in God’s strength. I must repent daily- and ask Him for daily strength to overcome it.

If I repent (turn away from,) sin, God will provide the means for me to overcome it. I am thankful for being set free of an overwhelming addiction to cigarettes, and for the day by day ability to come to terms with the celibate life and to have peace and joy in the midst of it. I know that I can only get along by the grace of God.